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Title:
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Informational Item from Staff - Project at 9901 Washington Boulevard (in the City of Los Angeles)
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9770 CULVER BOULEVARD CULVER CITY, CA 90232-0507
TEL 310.253.5700 FAX 310.253.5779
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
DATE: February 13, 2012
TO: HONORABLE COUNCIL MEMBERS
THROUGH: John Nachbar, City Manager
FROM: Sol Blumenfeld Community Development Director
Thomas Gorham, Planning Manager
SUBJECT: Report on City of Los Angeles Mixed Use Development –
9901 Washington Blvd
The City Council has inquired about a City of Los Angeles mixed use development
located at 9901 Washington Boulevard (southwest corner of Hughes and Washington).
The proposed project was approved by the Los Angeles Planning Commission on
February 9, 2009 and the Los Angeles City Council on July 13, 2009. Given the time
since the approval of the project entitlements by the City of Los Angeles, those
entitlements are now vested.
Staff has monitored the project since the project application filing in 2008. At that time,
the project developers, 9901 Luxe, LLC, provided Culver City staff with a set of plans
and a written project description. The Developer hosted a project open house on
August 12, 2008 at the project site where the developers presented renderings and
plans. Culver city staff attended the two public hearings on December 12, 2008 and
February 9, 2009. On September 17, 2008 and December 3, 2008 staff provided
informational memos to the City Council providing an overview and analysis of the
proposed project as summarized below:
Project Description:
The project involves the demolition of the existing 2-story – 42,386 sq ft above ground
portion of the movie theater building with existing subterranean garage to remain and
construction of a new 6-story; 90 foot high to top of parapet and 95 foot high to top of
stair tower; 158,367 sq ft mixed use development with 131 dwelling units including 11
affordable units and 12,148 sq ft ground floor commercial uses; 3 existing subterranean
parking levels to remain providing 146 required residential and 45 required retail parking
for a total of 191 spaces.
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Project Statistics:
? The project site totals 39,103 sq ft in area or 0.90 acres.
? Approved density with Density Bonus: 146 du/acre
? Allowed Density Under New Zone (Prior to Density Bonus): 108 du/acre
? Residential Parking Rate: 1 parking space/1-bedroom units (116 one-bdrm units)
and 2 spaces/2-3 bedroom units (9 two-bdrm and 6 three-bdrm units) = 146
spaces
? Proposed Commercial Parking Rate: 1 space per 270 sq ft = 45 spaces
? Ground Floor Washington Blvd Frontage Setback: 5 to 20 feet
Approved City of Los Angeles Project Entitlements:
? Zone Changes – A change to property zoning from Commercial and Multi-Family
Residential and Parking to a Residential/Accessory Service zone which is
needed to allow the proposed mixed use project and would make the site
consistent with General Plan Land Use Designation and will result in uniform
zoning for entire site (per the City of Los Angeles General Plan mixed use is
encourage in the area).
? Zone Variance – A variance allowing reduced drive aisle and parking stall widths
in order to seismically upgrade structural columns in the existing subterranean
garage.
? 35% Density Bonus – A density bonus allowed under State law providing 35%
density increase with 11% (11 units) of the permitted 97 pre-density bonus
dwelling units reserved for Very Low Income, and 35% increase in floor area
ratio.
? Site Plan review – Required for project with 50 or more dwelling units.
Project Analysis:
? Dunn Drive is a designated Local Street at 47 feet in width; however at its widest
point it is 50 feet (at the north end); the portion of Dunn Drive fronting project will
be widened to 50 feet.
? Building Height – 6 stories / 90 feet.
? Surrounding Building Height - Sony building south of site is 110 feet from street
grade to roof deck and 130 feet from street grade to top of mechanical penthouse
and property north of site is a seven-story structure; other surrounding sites have
one to two story structures. The Brotman Hospital contains eight-story
structures.
• Pedestrian Impacts - The project would create new users of Culver City
Downtown amenities (all within walking distance) and within walking distances of
Downtown Culver City including Trader Joes Market. Project follows L.A.’s PAGE 3 OF 3
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“Walkability” Checklist – for example: with ground floor Washington Blvd frontage
setback of 5 to 20 feet, there will be a widened sidewalk that allows for a greater
pedestrian experience.
? Transportation - It is near major bus transit routes (Venice and Washington
Blvds.) and.
? It is not near single family neighborhoods and commercial buildings shield it, to a
certain extent, from view.
? Housing Impacts – Provides new affordable units for employees in Culver City
improving the Jobs/Housing ratio and adding to the workforce housing stock.
? Parking - The stall dimension reductions due to the increase in column widths
would not affect car doors when opened because columns are located at the end
of the parking stalls and parking stall widths have been increased beyond code
requirements wherever possible given the parking structure configuration. The
reduced aisle width is at column locations only.
? At the request of Culver City Public Works Dept, the applicant will close the break
in the medium island on Washington Blvd which currently allows eastbound
access to the site off of Washington Blvd.
? Site Access - The site will accessed solely off of Dunn Drive and there will be no
driveways off of either Washington Blvd or Hughes Ave.
? Traffic Impact analysis (April 4, 2008) to City of L.A. stated that the proposed
project will result in the following vehicle trip changes:
24 hours- a decrease of 1,538 trips from prior uses
Morning peak hour – an increase of 32 trips from prior uses
Afternoon peak hours – a decrease of 96 trips from prior uses
These results are below the City if L.A.’s thresholds for requiring Traffic Impact
Studies – 500 trips per day and 43 trips per hour during peak hours; the
project did take credit for the existing retail and theater uses.
? Culver City Public Works Department agreed with the April 4, 2008 letter and
requested the medium break along Washington Blvd be closed since the project
will not have any access off of Washington Blvd – application materials indicate
this will be done.
Next Steps:
The project is currently in the building permit plan check phase, with construction
anticipated to begin this spring. Staff will continue to monitor the project as to its
compliance with all conditions of approval imposed by the City of Los Angeles to ensure
that the construction activities and the project do not adversely impact Culver City.